Glasgow Warriors assistant coach Petrus du Plessis has backed Huw Jones to stay at the club after the centre was linked with a return to the Stormers.

Jones was impressive during a three-year spell with the Stormers between 2015 and 2017, after completing his studies at the University of Cape Town. He decided to join the Warriors after the 2017 Super Rugby season, when he had already made his Test debut for Scotland.

Despite starring for Gregor Townsend’s side in 2017 and 2018, Jones was left out of Scotland’s 2019 World Cup squad. He has subsequently struggled for regular game time at Glasgow, with his defense apparently the issue.

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A report on Netwerk24 linked Jones with a return to South Africa to play for the Stormers while he sorted out a move away from the Warriors after an alleged falling out with coach Davie Rennie, who will be taking over as Wallabies head coach in June. Jones is contracted with the Warriors until 2021 and his agent has insisted that his future lies in Glasgow.

Warriors assistant coach Du Plessis, who played in the UK for well over a decade and finished his career with the Warriors, told The Scotsman that there is still a place for Jones in Glasgow.

‘I haven’t spoken to him on that level much with regard to him trying to look at going somewhere else,’ Du Plessis said. ‘All I know is that his name has been thrown around at every meeting and he’s part of the first team.

‘If he didn’t play the last three or four weeks, he will be playing soon. So that’s the advice I can give him.’

The Stormers have a shortage of senior centres after Damian de Allende’s departure to Japan. JJ Engelbrecht, EW Viljoen and Dan Kriel have also sealed moves away from the Cape.

Photo: EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER